Playstation All-Stars: Carnival of Destruction
by Coleiosis
Summary: Ratchet, Sackboy, and Sweet Tooth fall into the Opposite Dimension and meet Sweet Tooth's split-personality, Marcus Kane. But Sweet Tooth plans to unleash the giant ice cream truck Dark Tooth and cause lots of damage. Will the good guys take down this monster? Or will Sweet Tooth, driving Dark Tooth, take over the Opposite Dimension? Rated T for scary situations


Playstation all-stars

Carnival OF DESTRUCTION

Starring Ratchet, Clank, Sweet Tooth, Nathan Drake, Raiden, Sackboy, Calypso, and the following beings from the Opposite Dimension: Charlie Kane, Marcus Kane, and Ratchet

Sweet Tooth yelled in anger and frustration: "Gee whiz, Calypso! Can't you understand!? All I want is what I want when I want it!"

Calypso wanted to settle the situation his way. "Sorry! I hardly believe that you would ever apologize. In the meantime, you're staying with me! I came here to open the next Twisted Metal competition and NO ONE will stop me! It is a sad thing to see Heihachi drift away from me and reject my offer, but you know what they say: first thing's first."

"Wait a minute! It was MY idea to open up the contest and ask for Heihachi's help!"

"Well now, it's MINE!"

Sweet Tooth cannot believe what Calypso was putting up with him. He screamed at the sky at the top of his lungs. Things were getting more worse for him on that day. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Ratchet woke up instantly. He just had a dream about Sweet Tooth being at the mercy of Calypso. But he did not know, of course, that Sweet Tooth was already on Calypso's steamboat when Ratchet was set free from Sweet Tooth's jail. For now, at the time being, Ratchet is back safely at the secret hideout on his home planet Veldin, here sleeping with his colleagues Raiden, Nathan Drake, and Clank the robot. Although, Ratchet had to solve the mystery of why Sly Cooper was not there with them. On that night, every time he took a glimpse at Sly's empty bed, worry and anxiety would strike his heart. He had to find out what happened to him.

The next morning, Nathan Drake called for a group meeting during breakfast. When it came to meal time at the hideout, it would be the same thing every time: a bagged breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Today, they all sat at the main table until Nathan finally spoke up to make this shocking announcement:

"I want tell you all something very important: last night, after Solid Snake made his speech, Sly had something to say to us. Now, Ratchet, you weren't there when it happened, but let me just tell you this: Sly isn't going to be with us anymore."

Ratchet could not believe what he heard. "What?! So he's just gonna quit on us?! Why would he do such a thing?!"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Nathan replied. "Apparently, he did not tell us the reason why, but I think I know. Perhaps he doesn't know what to do now since he helped us a while ago, yet he's a thief. He probably didn't want to go through a mix of allegiances. I even asked Snake if HE could join us, but he said that he will be busy for a long time. But someone we know had the initiative to replace Sly." Nathan got up from the table and went over to the door. He knew just when this particular visitor would knock because this was the time the visitor would show himself. Nathan opened the door to let in Sly Cooper's replacement. At first, no one could see who it was, until they looked down at the short guy.

Ratchet realized who it was: "Hey! It's Sackboy!"

Sackboy waved "hi" and, with a big smile, happily jumped onto Raiden to squeeze him a big hug. "Get off me you teddy bear," Raiden said, and was hugged down to the floor.

"He is one of a kind," Ratchet said. But there was just one question that puzzled his mind: Are things getting better, or are they not? Sackboy is part of the team now and Sweet Tooth's scheme has been exposed. Yet Sly Cooper had to leave, and I must find out why.

Meanwhile, on the planet Earth, Sweet Tooth was kept busy cleaning up the inside of Calypso's steamboat which he was kept prisoner on. But every time he would do an order said by Calypso, Calypso would not be impressed by Sweet Tooth's lack of progress, so he would make him do it again until it looked better.

"Gosh, dang it, Calypso! How long must I be put up with this?! My arms are hurting and so are my legs! And I think the fire on my head is dying out," Sweet Tooth complained.

"Well," Calypso replied. "Let me tell you this: I DON'T CARE! I want everything in ship-shape and neatly done!"

"Ship-shape?! Neatly done?! What kind of person ARE YOU?!"

"A man of wealth, and destruction. I will open this next Twisted Metal contest whether you like it or not! I will be the star of this show, and I will not let you compete in this!" Suddenly, a horn went off from the steamboat's top. This was a sign that showed that a city was near. "At last," Calypso exclaimed. "The Los Angeles main boat dock is near!"

Sweet Tooth thought about it for a moment: If he says that we're close to Los Angeles, then how did I get tossed far back? Sweet Tooth recalls being thrown out of Los Angeles by Sackboy (who had grown fifty feet at that time, then shrinking back to his normal short size) and landing in Heihachi Mishima's boat, then jumping onto Calypso's steamboat. Sweet Tooth wanted to know the exact distance of how far Sackboy had thrown him. Honestly, he thought. I don't know how Suckboy does it. But I'm not supposed to worry about that. I want to get out of here! Sweet Tooth slowly walked through the door of the inside of the ship and walked up the stairs that led to the main deck.

Calypso quickly spotted him trying to get away. "Not so fast, clowny! You're not going anywhere!" But Sweet Tooth did not stop. He then started sprinting to the deck, then jumping off the whole steamboat itself. Calypso looked at him fall off, also pulling a stern look and guessing about Sweet Tooth's failure of the plan. "Utter fool," Calypso muttered. But he was wrong about Sweet Tooth's doing.

Sweet Tooth landed safely onto the Los Angeles main boat deck, and he danced for joy and victory. Almost. "Yes! I have made it back to where I was! Now to go sell Nathan Drake, Ratchet, and all the other prisoners I have so I can make money and put up my OWN Twisted Metal contest!" Sweet Tooth recalls capturing a bunch of prisoners, then Nathan Drake, and finally Ratchet. He planned to sell them all in an auction and receive the money to raise the funds for a Twisted Metal competition. Unfortunately, he was working with Sir Daniel Fortesque at the time, until Daniel double-crossed him and ruined the plan. Eventually, Sackboy came into the scene and sent Sweet Tooth away onto Heihachi Mishima's boat. That's when Calypso came and made things worse, and now Sweet Tooth is back to fulfill his plan. But little does Sweet Tooth know that Ratchet, Nathan, and all the prisoners have broken out thanks to Sackboy, and now the good guy team is at their hideout on the planet Veldin, where Sackboy joined the team.

Sweet Tooth started running through the streets of Los Angeles to find his jail building. Once he finally found it, he immediately burst through the doors and ran through the main hall to see if his prisoners were still there. But one look at the open prison cell doors and knocked-out clown minions gave him a big shock. "WHAT?! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! IT'S ALL RUINED! Now I'll NEVER make any more money! I'll NEVER host another Twisted Metal contest!" Sweet Tooth took out his big knife and angrily started smashing everything in the main hall. He was really furious about the fall of his greatest scheme, and he did not want anything else to fail him now. He stopped smashing things, burst into his jail office, and sat down at the desk. He still had the whole desk covered in the money he earned from capturing Nathan Drake, but he did not know who was the one who made the deal and gave him the money. The money was simply mailed to him secretly by someone unknown to him, and he could not make out who would be trustworthy enough to put a bounty on Nathan's head.

"At least I still have my trusty money," Sweet Tooth said to himself. "And yet, I don't have enough to make a Twisted Metal contest. Unless…" he thought for about ten seconds, then he smiled big and hideously. He let out a very loud laughter that showed that satisfaction had returned to him. He had thought of a new plan. He exclaims: "BRILIANT!"

Sweet Tooth quickly ran out of the building and waved the hitch-hiking thumb gesture, expecting a taxi-cab to come and pick him up. But he was worried about taxi cabs; for his father Charlie Kane once drove the cab known as Yellow Jacket and competed in the Twisted Metal competition. But a cab came and stopped at him anyway, and Sweet Tooth hopped right in and took a seat. "Driver, get me to my ice cream truck!" And the cab drove off.

As Sweet Tooth was riding in the backseat of the cab, he spotted a sign on the back of the driver's seat. He could not believe his eyes when he read the words and spelled out the name of the driver. The words specifically said-

Your driver: Charlie Kane

Sweet Tooth almost fainted after reading the words, also seeing a picture of Charlie Kane. A tear welled up in his eye as he called out: "DADDY!"

"Shut up! I ain't your dad!" A voice exclaimed from the driver's seat, and Sweet Tooth did not recognize it as Charlie's. The driver of the cab revealed himself to be Mr. Grimm, driver of his slick, black motorcycle.

"Mr. Grimm?! YOU came here!? What brought you here to look for me?" Sweet Tooth also wanted to know why Mr. Grimm had taken Charlie's taxi cab Yellow Jacket.

"I found it all dented up. I fixed it all up real good, then I decided to come and get you. For I have a plan that will NEVER fail."

"I have a plan as well, Mr. Grimm. And it involves different worlds."

"That's the exact same plan that I have! Although, we have to see if this is the one that we're agreeing with."

"Okay then, Mr. Grimm. I have decided to make a warp-powered ice cream bomb. Wherever it lands when thrown, there on the spot shall appear a warp zone. We shall throw Ratchet down into the zone, and it will lead him into the Opposite Dimension. And in that dimension, everything will be reversed, also being another Ratchet there. But the Ratchet that lives in the Opposite Dimension is crueler and evil, not like the Ratchet that we all know. Everyone in that dimension will think that the good Ratchet is the evil one that they're looking for, and they'll arrest him. He'll be trapped again and I won't have to be doing all the dirty work. And as for the Opposite Ratchet (the evil one), I'll ask him to team up with me and help the good Ratchet get noticed and captured. I'll promise him a big reward after this. But if anything goes wrong, then I'll have to do it myself."

"That's exactly what I've been thinking," replied Mr. Grimm. "It can be very useful!"

"That's what I thought. Now take me to my truck!"

Mr. Grimm drove the taxi cab towards Sweet Tooth's ice cream truck, which was straight ahead and in their sight now. Mr. Grimm parked the cab and Sweet Tooth got out, and went to his ice cream truck to open the rear doors, leading him into the freezing room of ice cream treats. "These are just what I need to put my plan into place," said Sweet Tooth in triumph. "I shall make the greatest thing that anyone has ever seen! I shall take all of my weapons apart and rebuild them all into one big gun like you see in the game 'Portal.' It shall create a warp hole that leads to the Opposite Dimension, and I'll shove Ratchet through the hole and trap him in there to perish. And don't forget: I shall help the eradication as well to earn the trust from Evil Ratchet. I AM A GENIUS!"

Mr. Grimm could not stand the noise that Sweet Tooth was making. "Look, Sweet Tooth: I know that you're all anxious and excited and pumped-up enough to formulate this plan. But can you at least be a little more quiet about it?!"

"Sorry, Mr. Grimm. All will fall into place once I get my revenge on the real Ratchet."

Later, on the planet Veldin, Sackboy had just come back from the Veldin Laundromat, carrying a basket of the clothes of his colleagues that just came out of the dryer. He burst through the door of the good guys' hideout, prancing around with the laundry basket and accidentally hitting Raiden on the head with it. Raiden felt uneasy about Sackboy being on the team, for Sackboy was the cause of many bad things happening to the rest of the good guys.

Sackboy set down the laundry basket and started sorting out the clothes to everyone. Eventually, he found a pair of pink girl's underwear with hearts on it. He questioned everybody: "Whose are these?!" Right away, Raiden snatched the underwear away from Sackboy's grip, but it indicated that the underpants were Raiden's. It bothered everyone so much that they let out a big groan, burying their faces in the pillows of their beds.

Ratchet thought: Perhaps I should have thought differently about letting Sackboy join the team. He's constantly screwing things up, especially with Raiden. Something tells me that Raiden will one day kick Sackboy out of the team for good, but what would the rest of us do about it? We don't want to kick ANYBODY out, yet it seems so tempting. I'm going to have to think hard on this one.

A little while later, Ratchet decided to go outside onto the plains of Veldin and get some fresh air to keep his mind off of Sackboy. He began to think about the adventure that he had yesterday: about when he set off on the adventure to rescue Nathan Drake from Sweet Tooth's grim grip; about when he learned the lesson about drunkenness; about when he was the prisoner that was set free to defend the weak once more. The good memories came back to Ratchet, causing a smile to spread across his face, and causing a tear of joy to run down his cheek.

But suddenly, Sackboy came and slammed him down to the ground. "DUCK!" A scream of exclamation spoke from Sackboy; a scream of danger and emergency. Following his scream, an explosion filled the air, followed by devilish and hellish laughter. Ratchet listened to the laughter, and quickly realized who it was that caused all that: Sweet Tooth.

"Nice to see you again, Ratchet!" Ratchet turned his head to see Sweet Tooth standing on top of his ice cream truck. The doors of the truck opened to reveal two big explosive ice cream missiles, ready to launch at the targeted opponents.

Ratchet exclaimed: "Sweet Tooth?! You just don't give up, do you?!" Ratchet leapt back onto his feet. He pulled out his Omniwrench and prepared himself to swing it and deflect the readied missiles. "It's about time that you learned a lesson in defying freedom!"

"Oh my," Sweet Tooth taunted. "You don't scare me a bit, Ratchet! It's pretty surprising how you escaped my great prison and stopped my Twisted Metal contest from happening. But no matter! For I have a plan that's far better than you suspected! I am LOCKED AND LOADED!" Sweet Tooth pulled out his newly-constructed portal gun and aimed it at the ground beneath Ratchet's feet.

But before Sweet Tooth could fire, he heard a stubby voice speak behind him: "And what about me!?" Sweet Tooth turned to see Sackboy standing on the stone ground, striking a cowboy pose.

Sweet Tooth giggled at the sight of Sackboy. "Sackboy? You've got to be kidding me! This is ridiculous!"

Ratchet spotted Sackboy and tried to get his attention. "Sackboy?! What are you doing here?! You're going to get yourself KILLED!"

Sackboy took Ratchet's opinion with a grain of salt. "What do you mean?! I'm fine! I'll try to take out the evildoer! I've done it before and I'll do it again! Just watch." Sackboy ran towards the ice cream truck and jumped to the top of it to unite with Sweet Tooth.

Sweet Tooth pointed the portal gun at Sackboy, making a threat. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. I can easily make a portal in YOU, Suckboy!"

"It ain't happening, you clown frown! And that's SACKBOY to you!"

"Whatever! You aren't so brave."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because you're not attacking me."

"Well, YOU'RE not attacking ME!"

"I'm only taunting you."

"See? This is what happens when you go crazy! You want a friend so badly, so your parents screw up and give you a paper lunch sack instead!"

"Hey! It was MY CHOICE to have a brown paper bag as a friend. And it's not just a bag! No! It's CRAZY HAROLD THE WACKY LUNCH SACK to you!"

Ratchet looked up at Sweet Tooth and Sackboy, and wondered: "What is going on up there? Why are they not fighting?!" Ratchet called up to Sackboy: "Hey Sackboy! Why aren't you doing anything!? Just hit him!"

But instantly, a hole had formed right underneath Ratchet, and it allowed him to fall through. Sweet Tooth watched Ratchet fall through the warp hole and wondered: Eh? What's this? A portal hole was formed and yet I didn't even have to use my special gun. But, no matter. I'd like to thank the guy who made that hole for me. Sweet Tooth let go of the portal gun and jumped into the warp hole, following Ratchet.

Sackboy watched as the hole was about to close up. I've got to follow them and save Ratchet from whatever lurks down there, he thought. He jumped a big leap and fell through the big hole. The warp hole then swallowed everyone up and closed itself.

Inside that hole lay the realm itself that Sweet Tooth described: the Opposite Dimension! It all spread through a whole different universe, and it contained a different version of all the galaxies and planets. They all looked the same, but the affiliation was totally reversed. An anti-gravitational pull was spreading through the star-filled limits of space, flowing into an Opposite Earth in an Opposite Milky Way Galaxy.

Ratchet, Sackboy, and Sweet Tooth were being hurled through the anti-gravitational flow and were thrown into Opposite Earth. As they were being carried in, it seemed as if they were about to catch on fire because of the speed they were heading through. But because of the atmosphere on Opposite Earth, no fire occurred upon them. Instead, they fell quickly, up until they were about to land upon the planet.

Down below, on Opposite Earth, a man dwelt down there, safe inside a white and pink-spotted ice cream truck that he drove. He was handing out ice cream to the little kids that came by, and bore a big smile of joy on his face. There was no problem with the air on the planet; and no person ever choked even once. Particularly, the Los Angeles on Opposite Earth was much safer than on the real Earth: no streets were damaged, no car fights or police chases occurred, and everything was perfectly fine.

After a boy walked away with a big cone of fudge brownie ice cream, the man looked up at the sky and saw Ratchet, Sackboy, and Sweet Tooth falling down. They would fall onto the hard stone street if someone did not place a trampoline or soft cushion on the ground to break their fall.

The man saw that this was a dire need for saving the falling heroes and villain. He quickly dug into the back of his ice cream truck and pulled out three big mattresses, then went out of his truck and placed them on the road. He looked up and waved his arms at the falling heroes and villain, motioning at them to fall in the direction of the mattresses.

Ratchet looked down below at the mattresses and understood what the man was doing. He shouted to the others as best as he can: "DOWN THERE!" Sackboy and Sweet Tooth saw the mattresses themselves as well, and they started diving down to there along with Ratchet. Finally, they reached the bottom and performed a soft and safe landing, bouncing upon the mattresses.

The man helped Ratchet, Sackboy, and Sweet Tooth up to their feet. He looked sternly at them and asked: "Are you okay, guys?"

Ratchet looked up at the man's face and replied: "Sure. Thanks, man."

Sweet Tooth wiggled his head to "shake all the cobwebs out". He looked surprised at the man and recognized his face and features. The man had long black hair and a bushy beard. He wore a big grey trench coat and had his hands in the pockets. Sweet Tooth recognized the man as Marcus Kane, driver of the cars "Roadkill" and "Minion." His face widened and shouted: "THAT'S ME!"

Ratchet was a bit confused. But before he could say anything, Sackboy chimed in and exclaimed: "That can't be true! Sweet Tooth, you're name is NEEDLES Kane."

"You fool," Sweet Tooth replied. "Don't you understand?! I changed my own name from Marcus to Needles ever since I joined Twisted Metal! I'd rather go by the alias name Sweet Tooth, if you please."

"He is right," Marcus said as he moved his hands out of his pockets. "I am his Opposite version. I am basically his split personality; a nicer and kinder version. Sweet Tooth trapped me at your dimension and killed my family, and then I joined Twisted Metal and drove Roadkill and Minion. I was a penniless and homeless, and I wanted a family who cares and is there for me. Until then, my mind was manipulated; Sweet Tooth and I became one and the same! It was all too powerful that it began enveloping me! I couldn't stand it any longer! But just then, a time warp caused a radiated explosion, causing the creation of the Opposite Dimension, which is where you are now. I fell into this dimesion so I can live in peace without having the other me, Sweet Tooth, to haunt me for the rest of my life! I want to remain as the good guy forever! I want to find my father and bring justice to this evil!"

Sackboy pulled a depressing look on his simple cute face and replied: "You lost everything? That's sad."

Ratchet pushed Sackboy aside and chimed in with his own opinion. "Don't talk like that, Sackboy. I miss my father. But at least I avenged the murderer of his death." A tear formed in the Lombax's eye. A memory started coming to him. A memory of how the evil Emperor Tachyon had murdered Ratchet's father Kaden. Ratchet was born on the planet Fastoon, but he was soon evacuated by Kaden to the planet Veldin, where the good guys' hideout is now. Nathan Drake and Raiden are probably looking for me now. I've got to pull myself together, but Marcus here really understands me.

Marcus half-smiled and said: "I guess that's something that we have in common. And I'm still looking for MY father as well." He turned to Sweet Tooth and pulled a look of disappointment and anger. "And as for you, it's surprising how you came here as well. I want to do me a favor and leave!"

Sweet Tooth scoffed and turned quickly to leave. "Fine! Have it YOUR way! But I'll be back to hunt you down! Just you wait and see!" He ran off and right away started turning onto the street on his right.

After a few minutes of running and jogging, Sweet Tooth started to become tired and exhausted from all that exercise. "I can really use some candy right now," he said to himself. Until then, he finally reached his destination: the Los Angeles Police Department jail (for Opposite Earth). Sweet Tooth clung onto the building's grey brick wall and climbed sideways to reach his destination. Throughout the way, he peaked through every open window of every jail cell to see if he is clinging onto the right one. Finally, he reached the cell of Opposite Ratchet, sitting on a wood bench, wearing a black-and-white-striped uniform. His outward appearance was different from the real Ratchet and was rather not appealing. His fur color was grey instead of yellow and orange, and his eye color was a bright red and orange.

Sweet Tooth found that Opposite Ratchet's cell was the right one he was looking for. He spoke out to him to get his attention: "Pssst! Hey! Opposite Ratchet! I've been looking for you."

Opposite Ratchet looked up to see Sweet Tooth clinging to the bars of his window. He spoke in a hushed and hissy tone: "Who the heck are you?!"

"I am the Marcus Kane from the OTHER dimension, where I live. I changed my name to Needles, but you can call me Sweet Tooth. I am not like the Marcus who is a soft-hearted religious fanatic."

"I am glad you're not! That Marcus is the one responsible for putting me into this joint! He even took apart my robot Clank!"

An Opposite Clank, eh? Sweet Tooth's brain raced through many thoughts that tie in with the story on Opposite Earth. There are many more to discover here on this sad, sad world. But I've got to find the real answer to this puzzle. If I can't find my father's truck "Dark Tooth" in MY world, then I'm going to have to find it HERE. I hope it's not damaged. For Sweet Tooth recalls that his father, Charlie Kane (driver of the taxicab Yellow Jacket), had mistaken him to be dead. And to avenge this, Charlie made a giant ice cream truck based off of Sweet Tooth's truck. Except that Charlie's truck was three times the size as Sweet Tooth's, and it was the color purple with pink polka-dots, and it held a giant spinning evil clown head on top of it. As the head would spin around, the fiery flames would go mad and wild in the impact, and would be the biggest threat to any Twisted Metal contestant.

"Once I get myself out of here," Opposite Ratchet continued, "I shall buy myself a desk to display Marcus' head! I swear to Pete, I'll kill him severely!"

"Don't worry, Opposite Ratchet," Sweet Tooth replied. "I'll get you out of here." But suddenly, a police siren sounded and made an ear-piercing scream that filled the area. "Sorry, dude! I've got to get out of here! I'm being routed out!" He jumped down from Opposite Ratchet's window, landed himself on the jail ground, and made a run for it.

Opposite Ratchet exclaimed: "WAIT! You can't just leave me here!" But by then, it was too late. Sweet Tooth got away quickly, and was heading down the street to his next destination: to find Dark Tooth.

Meanwhile, Marcus Kane was introduced to Sackboy, and they started away a friendly conversation until Ratchet finally spoke: "It's nice to share many things with you. But I'd like to know: what is Twisted Metal like HERE?"

Marcus sighed. He spoke softly: "I'd rather not talk about how it is in YOUR dimension. But I'd be happy to talk about how it is HERE. Follow me." Marcus motioned Ratchet and Sackboy to hop into his ice cream truck and load the three mattresses back into the rear area. "Stay in there until I tell you to come out." Marcus closed the rear doors, leaving the duo in there with the mattresses. Marcus went around his truck and hopped onto the driver's seat, then drove off down the street. Throughout the route, the Marcus drove the truck past some signs of a special summer amusement park of "Los Angeles Country Fair."

Once they've reached their destination, Ratchet, Sackboy, and Marcus stepped out of the ice cream truck and looked at their surroundings. The carnival was packed with people that were eager to step into the rides that go at fast speed. The scenery glowed with pink from the cotton candy that were being spun and handed out to people.

"Oh," Sackboy exclaimed with a big smile on his face. "Can we get on the rides and have cotton candy?"

Ratchet looked down at Sackboy while pulling a grumpy look on his face. "We're not here to enjoy ourselves! We are looking for the Twisted Metal that exists here on Opposite Earth, to see how the rules are changed."

Marcus took the duo to one particular part of the country fair, where a complete opposite version of Twisted Metal took place. It was held at a dirt bike stadium with six sets of bleachers surrounding it, with twenty rows of seats facing the stadium. The bleachers were full of people cheering for their favorite drivers, who appeared to be opposite versions of the combatants of the REAL Twisted Metal. The following players drove the following vehicles into the stadium:

-Mr. Ash: Darkside the semi-truck

-Mr. Grimm, driving his motorcycle

-Mike and Dave: Hammerhead the monster truck

-Simon Whittlebone: Mr. Slam the bulldozer

-Amanda Watts: Twister the racecar

-Charlie Kane: Yellow Jacket the taxicab

The drivers lined their cars up next to each other's, then they looked up at a high platform held next to the entrance to the audience bleachers. A long-haired man appeared on the platform, wearing a grey suit and red tie and waving a big cowboy hat and exclaiming: "YEEEHAAWW!" That man was Opposite Calypso, founder of the Twisted Metal contest for Opposite Earth. The crowds cheered once they heard his exclamation and were ready to watch the drivers put their best into this contest. He put his hat on his head and started speaking: "Howdy, all you stunt lovers! I am Calypso, and I will be your host tonight! Welcome to the awesome Twisted Metal competition. You all may remember the rules; you all may not, so I shall tell you: all players are to drive their favorite vehicles and perform special flips, spins, and tricks around this stadium. They shall do their best at jumping off ramps and bumps and performing such neat stunts. Now, may six people come and each place a bet on one different contestant. All the people in the audience will vote when the performances are over, and the contestant that gets the most votes wins the contest and wins the bet that the person set. Now place your bets, everybody! And let the contest begin!"

Ratchet, Sackboy, and Marcus listened to the rules loud and clear and understood the difference.

Ratchet realized what was going on here. "Wow! I've never thought how different it really is here on Opposite Earth! Are we going to place any bets?"

"We actually are," Marcus replied. He pointed at Opposite Charlie Kane, driver of Yellow Jacket. "Do you see that elderly fellow driving the taxicab? That's my father, Charlie Kane. He and I have been far away from each other for as long as I can remember. I never thought that we would separate for that long. I was wondering where he has been lately. I hoped that Sweet Tooth did not kill him, but there's one thing that makes me puzzle over: what happened to SWEET TOOTH'S father? That's what I want to know."

"We'll find out," Ratchet replied. "Someday, we will."

"The only thing I know is that his face was deformed ever since he went back to competing in the real Twisted Metal. I have not seen him since then. But we're not here to talk about that. Right now, I've got to place my bet."

Ratchet asked, "How much are you betting him?"

"Seven hundred and sixty dollars. It's all I have. I've been saving up to buy a new home for me because I've been living in my ice cream truck for all this time, selling my delicious ice cream and also mattresses; mattresses are expensive you know. But I have still not tracked my dad down until now. I'm going to bet him all my money to earn his trust."

"Well, that actually makes sense. By the way, where's Sackboy?" Ratchet turned to look around him. Sackboy was nowhere in sight. "Marcus, you can place your bet while I search for Sackboy."

"No need; because I already see him dancing on the back of Mr. Ash's semi-truck."

"What the heck?!" Ratchet looked out into the stadium and saw Sackboy break-dancing on the back carrier of the semi-truck Darkside. "Holy crap! He's going to get himself killed!"

"Go on and get him! I'll stay here."

Ratchet quickly ran onto the stadium and waved his arms at the crowd. "Hold everything! There's someone out here!"

Opposite Calypso looked down at Ratchet and was about to exclaim something out. He was about to call out for the carnival security, but he looked down again. He looked closely down and saw that Ratchet was not the top criminal of Opposite Los Angeles known as Opposite Ratchet. So he was relieved about this.

Ratchet ran over to the semi-truck Darkside, picked up Sackboy, and ran back out. He exclaimed to the crowd: "You can go on with your game now!" By the time he made it out, he darted towards a rest bench, put down Sackboy and started yelling at him: "What is the matter with you?! Are you TRYING to get yourself killed!? Those stunts are very dangerous and you would never survive in there!"

Sackboy did not want to be yelled down at, so he responded rudely as well: "Hey! I've been racing and doing adventures myself!"

"I know you've been doing these types of things, Sackboy! But Raiden was right: it was a big mistake letting you in on the team! You are inexperienced!"

Sackboy did not know what to say next. Ratchet's yelling attitude left him speechless and sad. He drooped down and stared at the ground with grief stuck in his heart. His throat felt funny and started itching; he tried to hold back tears, but he did not want to act immature in front of a Lombax who was about fifteen years older than him. He finally spoke softly: "I guess you're right. I'm never going to be a great hero until I'm as old as you. I'm hopeless."

Ratchet almost had pity on Sackboy for this attitude. He tried his best to keep himself calm and make things normal. "Look, Sackboy. I know you really enjoy adventure, but you've got to know the dangers as well. I've been warned of these things as well."

"I know, Ratchet," Sackboy replied quietly. "I just want to be an adventure like you."

Ratchet sighed and motioned Sackboy to follow him. "Come on. Let's go watch the performance."

Sweet Tooth has been running for about the time that Marcus and the gang took off for the country fair to the time that Ratchet stopped yelling at Sackboy. He finally stopped at a huge garage with only one big garage door. "This is probably where I stop. This is probably where it is." He lifted up the garage door and peaked inside to find the right vehicle. He finally caught sight of the big truck he was looking for; the giant ice cream truck of Dark Tooth. "Yes! YESSS! It's all mine now!" Sweet Tooth ran inside the garage and looked around Dark Tooth and admired its features. "I'd like both dimensions to thank my father Charlie Kane for building the great big Dark Tooth. Although, the Charlie from this Opposite Dimension built THIS Dark Tooth. And I'll be the one to use it first!" Sweet Tooth hopped into Dark Tooth and turned on the engines. It softly roared with engine sound.

"Ah," Sweet Tooth said, satisfied. "Dark Tooth! I was born to possess this thing! Now I can find that no-good Lombax and finish the job!" He turned on a GPS that was already hooked to the windshield, inserted a tiny microchip, and used hacking abilities to track down Marcus Kane's ice cream truck. The truck was located at the Los Angeles Country Fair, so Sweet Tooth found where Ratchet was as well. "No matter where you are, Ratchet, I shall come and hunt you dang down!" He drove out of the garage and, with the giant clown head on top of the truck spinning around, laughed very hysterically. He started driving down the street that leads to the carnival.

Back at the Los Angeles Country Fair, the Twisted Metal performance became a smashing success. Opposite Mr. Grimm made a double forward flip after jumping off a big ramp. He was the fastest of all the competitors, but Opposite Charlie Kane (driving Opposite Yellow Jacket; the real Mr. Grimm has the real one) had some tricks up his sleeve. He used up all of his turbo to make a high jump off a ramp, spun a 360-degree in mid-air, and landed back on the ground while he was still spinning, making a circle in the dirt while dust rose up into the air.

Marcus watched his father perform his trick and cheered with glee and happiness. He loved how his father was doing well for a retired elderly man with a hook for his right hand. "I just know that he's going to win the money I bet him."

Ratchet was enjoying the show as well, but he felt uneasy about something. He kept looking down at Sackboy, always having a depressing look on his face. Ratchet felt uneasy about what he did to him, yelling at him about being an "inexperienced adventurer." That's when HE felt really sad. After all these years of being orphaned after his father was killed by Emperor Tachyon, how is Ratchet going to pick up the pieces of his childhood. Sackboy himself is a kid as well; and that fact made him feel very sorry that he's ever yelled like that to a kid.

Right when Ratchet was about to say something, Sackboy all of a sudden walked away with his palms in his face. Ratchet did not want to leave Marcus to his bet alone again, but he had no choice but to look for Sackboy and say that he was sorry. "Sorry, Marcus. But Sackboy is off again. And I think it's for a sad reason."

Marcus looked down at Ratchet and had no problem about the problem. "Okay, Ratchet. I'll be here if you need me."

Ratchet seemed surprised at Marcus' well-mannered attitude. Wow, he thought. This guy takes it like a man. I think he's a nice person. But I've got to go and apologize to Sackboy; otherwise he'll never forgive me. Ratchet quickly walked all over the carnival to look for Sackboy, until he found him sitting on the same rest bench where he yelled at him. Ratchet went over there and took a good look at Sackboy: his head drooped down facing the ground, his black-button eyes big with sadness. Ratchet felt a trickle of sadness as well; his two head-tails on the back of his head drooped down in sorrow.

"Sackboy, are you okay?" Ratchet thought that this was the opportunity to make things right.

"Go away, please," Sackboy replied sadly. "I don't want to talk to you. Now leave me alone!"

"Hey, I share your pain. I feel sad as well."

"Well," Sackboy brought up some sarcasm. "Now we both have something in common."

"Look, Sackboy: I'm sorry! I didn't mean to yell straight at you. I just wanted to knock some sense into you. But then I realized something: you're actually a very funny little guy."

"Then how come everybody else doesn't say that?!"

"Hey, I like you. I like your laugh. I like the way you smile, and you do some very funny things. I was about to laugh when you were dancing on the semi-truck. I think it was a GREAT idea to let you in on the team. And I do disagree with what Raiden said. I think you are phenomenal. In fact, EVERYBODY says so. Even Nathan Drake, Clank, and Raiden needs to learn a little lesson in respect. Do you agree with me?"

"Ratchet… I was about to say something… I should have said this earlier: I'm sorry. I just wanted to have fun. And I forgive you for yelling at me."

"Well, I apologize and forgive as well."

"Thank you, Ratchet." Sackboy reached out his arms and gave Ratchet a big hug, this time not strangling him down as he did to Raiden. Ratchet felt happy for this moment as well.

There is still love spreading through the air, Ratchet thought. Sackboy is actually a pretty cute guy. "Now let's go see how Charlie Kane does it."

"Sure, Ratchet! I can't wait to see if he wins Marcus' bet!"

Everyone was thrilled to see Charlie's performance out in the open. After about thirty minutes had passed by, Opposite Calypso spoke up: "Time's up! I have already collected these vote papers from the audience, and I'm going to announce the winner of the competition. And he or she shall win the money that was betted. I shall sort out all the votes for the competitors, and the one who received the most wins." He started sorting out the vote papers; one pile of papers for each contestant. Even Ratchet, Sackboy, and Marcus made THEIR vote as well as betting the money.

Right in the middle of sorting it all out, Opposite Calypso heard some heavy metal music playing off in the background. All of a sudden, the giant ice cream truck Dark Tooth burst into the stunt stadium. The flaming clown head spun around on top of the truck and struck fear into the hearts of the audience as it blurted out hysterical laughter. The trio Marcus, Sackboy, and Ratchet looked out into the stadium to see Sweet Tooth in the driver's seat of Dark Tooth.

"Hello, idiots," Sweet Tooth yelled out. "I'm here to show you what MY father had made! BEHOLD! DARK TOOTH!" Sweet Tooth screamed out a big load of laughter for triumph. "I shall take power, evil, and destruction to a whole new level! Gather around, you lamebrains! I'm going to give you all some treats! And what I mean by that is DESTROY YOU!" Sweet Tooth laughed again, expecting that Ratchet would show up and fight.

But Ratchet did not know what to do. He did not have a weapon at the moment, and he did not have a vehicle to drive. But Sackboy had an idea: "Hey Marcus! How fast can your ice cream truck go?"

Marcus thought about it for a second, then replied: "Sorry, buddy. But my old junky can go no more than seventy miles per hour."

"But don't you think that's still a little fast? It's got to work."

"Well, I'll try. As long as we've got something to throw at Sweet Tooth." He thought for another second, until Sackboy spoke up again.

"I don't know if we can throw your ice cream because that would be a waste."

"But it's not a waste when you're using ice cream as a weapon. Let's do this!" Marcus quickly led Ratchet and Sackboy to his ice cream truck and motioned them to get in the rear room.

Once they hopped in, Ratchet thought about something as well. Then he spoke to Sackboy: "Listen, Sackboy: this is really dangerous. So you have to be careful when doing something like this, okay? So do not try this at home. Do you promise?"

Sackboy pulled a great big smile on his face, and said: "I promise not to do this at home, nor at somebody else's home. I know that the real Twisted Metal is dangerous, and I shall stay out of it at all times. I promise, Ratchet." Sackboy gave Ratchet another big hug for a promise.

I know you promise, little guy, Ratchet thought. I know you do.

Marcus turned on the engine of the truck and looked behind him to see Ratchet and Sackboy sitting in the back with all the ice cream. Then he spoke as well: "Make sure you throw those frozen treats at Sweet Tooth with great accuracy. You know how big of a truck Dark Tooth is."

"We know," replied Ratchet.

"And we'll be careful," replied Sackboy.

"Okay then," Marcus said. "Here we go!" He started driving out onto the stunt stadium, and the battle began!

Sweet Tooth looked down at Marcus driving his ice cream truck. He chuckled at how foolish the idea was to try and use a puny truck to destroy a much bigger one. "Look at you, you idiot! How are you even supposed to DESTROY me?!"

Marcus smiled instead of feeling down. He replied: "I've got lots of leftovers in the back for you, waiting to be thrown at you."

"Oh that's good. That's very good indeed," Sweet Tooth teased. "But you've got nobody with you. So how are you going to pull it off?!"

"Oh, don't worry. I've got friends with me."

"Oh, really! How can a puny Lombax destroy a two-hundred-and-fifty-ton machine!? There's nothing else you can do to stop me! You might as well GIVE UP!"

"Oh, we won't!"

Sweet Tooth was about to speak up, until he realized something: every sentence that he and Marcus were saying begun with the phrase "Oh." That made Sweet Toot sick of talking to his own split-personality Marcus. "Let's not talk for awhile, okay? Good! Now let's ride!" Sweet Tooth turned the truck Dark Tooth around to face Marcus' truck and pulled out a big rocket launcher. "I replaced all the rockets in this little baby and instead installed a nice warm gift for you. I call it the 'atom manipulator!' It charges up a big molecular sphere, then blasts at you. It shall take you inside of it, like a force field, and expand itself while you're still in there. And once it gets to about twenty feet tall, it shall cause an atomic explosion, affecting you as well and being the fastest way to cause a death. And the end result is that the fragments of the explosion will turn into the most powerful acid that will melt onto you! Are you ready for this, Marcus?!"

Marcus smiled again and replied: "No. But I'm ready for THIS!" He turned his truck around so that the rear end was facing Dark Tooth's front.

"What are you doing?!" Sweet Tooth was confused at Marcus' act. "Well, no matter. At least now I can shoot you!"

But in a matter of split-seconds, Marcus rammed the rear end of his truck right into Dark Tooth's front, creating a big dent on the hood and shattering the headlights.

"Wowee!" Sweet Tooth right away became angry at Marcus' doing. "You DO suck! What are you going to do next, my little friend?!"

"THIS!" Marcus got out of his truck, walked around it, and opened the rear doors, revealing Ratchet and Sackboy preparing to throw ice cream at Dark Tooth.

"HA!" Sweet Tooth thought that this was just a little joke. "This is just a little joke, isn't it!? What good might that do you!?"

Right away, Ratchet and Sackboy opened fire, shooting two fudge popsicles at Dark Tooth's windshield. Once it splattered onto the windshield, Sweet Tooth was astonished at how Ratchet and Sackboy were making progress throwing food at him. "A fudgesicle," he exclaimed. "This is not good."

As the good guys kept on throwing the deserts, it was one treat after another: popsicles, fudgesicles, creamsicles, sorbet, sherbet, vanilla, chocolate, mint, chocolate chip cookie dough, bubble gum, Wonka treats. The good guys had pretty much everything to throw. But until then, they ran out.

Sweet Tooth stepped out of Dark Tooth and saw in shock and horror how messed up the windshield had become. "Look what you've done to my windshield, you lamebrains! This is my father's greatest creation! But if you want to play dirty THAT way, that's okay with ME! For I still have a weapon to hold against you."

Sweet Tooth pointed the "atom manipulator" at the trio, but they resisted. They raised their hands into the air and said: "We surrender. Don't shoot."

"Ah, how clever," Sweet Tooth replied. "But it's not going to do you any good. It will get you nowhere." He made his finger touch the trigger, ready to pull it and let out the molecular force field.

But then, a yelling voice came from the right side of the stadium. It was Opposite Charlie Kane! He was driving his taxicab Opposite Yellow Jacket at full speed, heading for Sweet Tooth and yelling "NOOOOOOO!" But he did not make it to survive. Sweet Tooth pulled the trigger and fired the powerful field. It engulfed around the cab, including Opposite Charlie. The field grew bigger, and bigger, and bigger!

Until then, an explosion went off as Sweet Tooth planned. It was big and so powerful that Ratchet was blown back against the monster truck Opposite Hammerhead. He hit his head right on the front bumper, leaving a big bump on the back of his head, resulting in blacking out.

About an hour later, Ratchet woke up and found himself safely back at the hideout on Veldin. He was lying in his bed bunk and had blood-stained gauze wrapped around his head. He turned his head to look around the small room, and he found Sackboy sitting on his bed bunk and texting on his cell phone. Sackboy saw that Ratchet was awake and started talking to him right away: "Hey, Ratchet. You missed the best part of our adventure!"

"What happened?"

"Well, we're now on the same team so I'll tell you THIS much: Sweet Tooth's 'atom manipulator' actually worked on the taxicab, and it melted down. But Opposite Charlie survived the impact. It turns out that the launcher affects people more than cars; and Charlie was safe inside his car while Sweet Tooth only had little ammo to shoot. And guess what: Charlie actually won! He won the Opposite Twisted Metal contest and received the money that was betted; AND he gained Marcus' trust. The two of them love each other now. They're saving up to buy a new home on a new street, living a new life. And they were able to sell more ice cream to receive more money."

"Then how did we end up back in OUR dimension?"

"Another warp hole all of a sudden opened up. We made it through before it was too late. Although, Sweet Tooth was able to make it back here as well; and I think he's about to hatch another scheme to do. And I have to say: Marcus really misses you. He gives you the best of luck."

Ratchet made a soft smile and replied: "I'll miss Marcus too. I give Marcus AND his father the best of luck as well. And by the way: welcome to the team!" Ratchet gave Sackboy a return hug of kindness. Sackboy made a big smile as well. "And don't worry. We'll find out what Sweet Tooth is up to, and we'll also find Calypso as well. We'll have the adventure of a lifetime!'

"I hope so," Sackboy replied. And he gave Ratchet a hug one more time.

**This is part two of a three-part trilogy for Playstation All-Stars. Part three is soon to come: Final Words, starring Ratchet, Clank, Sackboy, Nathan Drake, Raiden, Carl Roberts, President Phyronix, Sasha Phyronix, Sweet Tooth, Mr. Grimm, Calypso, Yoshimitsu, Kratos, and Captain Qwark.**


End file.
